We all want to have a lot of money to spend and would have the ability to buy anything we want. It does not happen very often in the real world. When we are young, our parents would pay for our food, school, entertainment, and etc. When we grow up and start to make money on our own, we start to work for our living. Then we just realize that we should not spend money at will and should be grateful for our parents to work hard to raise us and support us.

It is impossible that we never grow up and face our true self. How do you use your money and use it wisely? It matters a lot to you. Even though you do have the time or you do not make enough money, you would like to buy what you want first. Maybe you would apply for a loan or you would pay with a credit card and pay with the minimum payment each month with a high-interest rate. No matter how you deal with it, you still have to accept the consequences in the end. That is why I would like to talk about it here and would like to recommend you that good habits and attitude towards money would help you live a completely different life. Do not think it too difficult to get started saving money. Simply give it a try and do it step-by-step. I am sure that you would succeed it one day.

1. Find out the reason why you would like to buy
We would buy things every day for different reasons. Is it because we really need it or we want? Is it worth it or only please at that moment? Let’s get to know more about your motives:

* Basic needs include food, water, sleep, sex, homeostasis, and excretion.
* Shopping can help you search for approval from others and will improve the relationships with others.
* Shopping can help you improve your low self-esteem and worthlessness.
* When you suffer from anxiety and depression, shopping would make you feel everything is fine without facing the reality.
* When you worship a celebrity, you would like to wear and make up like her. Then you would whatever she uses or recommends and imagines you would be her.
* You are materialistic and think that having possessions is the most important thing in life
* You want to collect something rare or valuable to gain some kind of satisfaction.
* You want to show everyone you have the ability to buy it.
* You want to buy it to make up for the time when you were young.
* You want to stand out among others or make friends with rich or famous people, you would buy luxury products to make you look more like them. It is often over your salary and ability.
* You want to buy something because your classmates, friends, and colleagues have them or they push you to buy them. You are easily influenced by others.
* To make your life or work more convenient like cell phones.
* The old one is out of work or not working and you need to buy a new one.
* Sales & cheaper prices attract you too much to fight against it even though you do not actually need it.
* If you are a loyal fan of a brand like iPhone or LV, you would want to buy the latest product every year. It is expensive and cost you a lot.
* Wild holiday shopping like black Friday enables you to buy more than you need.
* If you are addicted to something, you would never say no to shopping.
* After working for a big case, you would deserve a bit of luxury to reward yourselves.

2. You can never buy them all
There are so many interesting and fancy products that are produced by smart businessmen. You know these companies would have new products, clothes, cosmetics, shoes, and etc. Do you think if it is possible to buy all of them every year? Do you think you do not have other bills to pay? The answer is clear and simple. That is why I would like you to be a smart person who uses money wisely.

3. Keep a record of your expenses
Write down your expenses can help you know how you spend your money and how much you spend. When it comes to the end of the month, you would find out you do not have much left in your pocket. You may wonder why this happens and you do not remember it at all. You want to change and save money. This is exactly what you should do fist. As long as you collect your expense details, you can start to organize them and analyze them one by one. With the help of smartphones, there are many useful app or credit card statements to help you get the job done. Hence, you would realize exactly how you spend and what you buy. After keeping a record for 1-2 month, you would know more and see how to adjust it. It may seem little but a pin a day is great a year. Do not ever underestimate it.

4. Take a step back to hold on shopping
What you want to buy is not the same as what you need. Take a step back to wait a couple of days or weeks before you buy something. Give yourself a moment to hold on the idea of buying something. Later on, you would find out that it would be all right without shopping. That does save some money.

5. Establish a budget
You are the one who has full control of your money. You should know it most and nobody can do it for you. You have all the expense details and can learn to manage your income and establish a budget. You can manage these details including rent, utility bills, credit card payment, food, cars, and etc. Every month you have to stick to your budget to better understand how your money is spent.

6. Make good use of envelopes to spend your money
If you often overspend and it is out of control, you can divide your income into several parts and put each of them into different envelopes. If the money in one of the envelopes is gone, you just have to accept it and wait for next month.

7. Set up an automatic transfer service
Automatic Transfer Service is a very effective way to help you save money. You can ask your company and the bank about when and how much money to transfer money. Every month, your company would transfer a certain amount of your paycheck to a savings account, a retirement account, and an investment account to help you save money automatically. You would save a lot of money little by little.

8. Make an easy and small savings goals to make it easy for you to save more.

9. Start to prepare for your retirement as soon as possible and make good use of the retirement plan like a 401(k). Your employer would match a certain amount or percentage of your contributions.

10. Save part of your extra income, bonuses, tax refunds, and even change into your savings account.

11. Unsubscribe from marketing emails regarding coupons, discounts, and sales to avoid more shopping.

12. Turn off the TV to avoid overspending and lower electricity bills.

13. If you seldom watch TV or you are used to watching videos online, just go ahead to cancel the cable or satellite services to save regular fees.

14. Put a reminder in your wallet or on your credit card to stop more spending.

15. Try to pay off credit cards as much as possible until you can pay it in full every month. Do not use the revolving interest rate which is very high. Set up your credit card payment by auto-pay to make sure that every payment is paid on time.

16. Check your credit report for free every year to see if you can raise your score and decrease the cost when you apply for a loan.

17. Borrow books and e-books from the library rather than buy plenty of books.

18. If you want to buy theater tickets, try to find any discounts from the Credit Card Company or marketing emails. Or they’ll have great discounts of unsold tickets right before a show.

19. List your priorities to have a better idea of how to save money and spend.

20. Quit smoking to save money and improve your health.

21. Limit how much you spend on holiday gifts when you would exchange gifts between your family and friends. This can reduce the cost and everyone does not have to worry about spending too much.

22. Do not purchase cheap products because it is cheap, like clothes. Quality comes before price.

23. Exchange second-hand daily goods with your neighbors and friends including books, clothes, toys, electrical appliance rather than buy brand new products.

24. Avoid eating out at a fancy restaurant and prepare your food by yourself.

25. Make a list before you go to the supermarket and buy food. It would help you buy what you need.

26. Before you buy anything, try to compare several similar products to find out which unit price is cheaper.

27. If you really want to purchase something, check if they have cash back or other reward programs like Swagbucks and QuickRewards.

28. Repair your living goods and clothes instead of throwing them away.

29. Play with your children in an economic way like play soccer or sand in the park.

30. Clean your room in clutter and have a garage sale.

31. Do have enough healthcare insurance to prevent more spending in the future.

32. Generic drugs are much cheaper than brand-name drugs. Please consult your doctor to see if you can use generic drugs.

33. Compare the price of prescription drugs online or in the supermarkets and wholesale clubs to get a better price.

34. Compare the price of store brand non-prescription drugs with brand-name drugs. Store brand non-prescription drugs are often cheaper and have the same formula.

35. Check your homeowner’s insurance to see if you can get lower prices. Or you can compare another insurance policy to see if you can have a better offer.

36. Ask your bank to get a lower interest rate of your mortgage to save interest cost.

37. In summer, make sure to use curtains to block the sunlight and to keep your house cool. That does save a lot of electricity cost.

38. In summer, do not set your air conditioning system to the lowest temperature to save electricity cost.

39. Install LEDs can save a lot even though the initial cost is higher than normal light bulbs.

40. Reduce your water usage and bills like low-flow showerheads.

41. Use the smallest suggested amount of laundry detergent to save water and laundry detergent.

42. Do not set your water heater too high to save water heating cost.

43. Explore free events and facility in the neighborhood or the state like free basketball and trails to enjoy yourself outdoors.

44. Before you renew your auto insurance policy, remember to compare another insurance policy to see if you can have a better offer.

45. Before you buy an airline ticket, remember to check multiple websites or travel agencies for lower airfares.

46. Sign up for the automatic debt repayment plan to get a small rate reduction or discount.

47. Have a city tour or any other tour in your state to replace expensive tour overseas.

There are so many ways to help you save money. Even heck your savings accountant to see the number grow would encourage you as well. Hopefully, you can find a way to help yourself pay off debt and save money.

https://www.balanceoflife.xyz/47-simple-ways-to-save-money/

Author's Bio: 

Hello and welcome to my personal balance of life blog https://www.balanceoflife.xyz & read my article!

My name is Madolyn.

I would like to keep track of my progress so as to help me understand the deep inside me and to improve the balance of life. Besides, I have great passion and enthusiasm to share and hopefully to help readers improve their balance of life along the way.

Sincerely, hope you all enjoy yourselves and get what you want.